Just look at those Chioggia beetroot. Aren’t they beautiful? Not only do these beetroot, also known as candy beetroot, look brilliant their vibrant stripes can’t fail to cheer you up even on the gloomiest of days. These beetroot, horseradish and salmon sandwiches came about because I love the combination of earthy, sweet beetroot and fiery horseradish with smoked foods. That, and I fancied something for lunch that wasn’t just toast! Another great thing about this variety of beetroot is that you don’t need to clean the entire kitchen after peeling them; they have hardly any of the staining power of their deep purple cousin.
Ingredients
You will need (for four very generous open sandwiches):
- Baguette, rye bread, crusty rolls or whatever bread you fancy; sliced or halved as needed to make it have an open face
- 800g Chioggia beetroot (any other beetroot would be fine too)
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 2 tbsp hot horseradish sauce
- Salt and pepper
- Smoked salmon
- Squeeze of lemon
Method
Start by peeling the beetroot. Chop them up into chunks and then place in a roasting dish. Drizzle over the rapeseed oil, add some salt and pepper and mix it together well to ensure all the beetroot is coated in oil and seasoning.
Roast in the oven at 180C for 40 minutes or until the beetroot are soft when tested with a knife.
Blend the beetroot in a processor until it’s in small chunks (or chunkier or smoother depending on how you like it) then stir through the horseradish.
Get your bread ready, maybe toast it, cut the crusts off, whatever you fancy then top with the beetroot and horseradish mix. Top each sandwich with some smoked salmon then drizzle over a little lemon juice and some extra black pepper.
I think these open sandwiches have a little bit of everything. Sweet beetroot, punchy horseradish, crusty bread, silky smoked salmon and sharp lemon. You could also use smoked ham or smoked cheese instead of the salmon if you like. This was such a great lunch and one that I think would lend itself well to taking to work; you can just add the toppings when you’re ready to eat! That beetroot and horseradish mixture would be great added to mashed potatoes too.
Those beets..ain’t they the prettiest thing in the universe? The salmon open sandwich looks droolworhty too.
those beets are gorgeous! and i eat smoked salmon whenever i can- it’s so good with everything!!
A lovely idea, Caroline! I have some chioggia myself this week at last…but y’know, I actually prefer (and adore) the deep purple “normal” ones myself. Golden beets are lovely too, but these chioggia fail to truly win me over. They’re nice to slice and yes, don’t bleed. But flavourwise, give me the purple anyday. To me, those are the sweeter ones.
I agree, I think the purple ones have more sweetness but any beetroot are welcome in my kitchen!
What a fantastic combination, Caroline! I would never have come up with this!
I love the beauty of Chioggia beets… a couple of years ago, I thought it would be pretty to pickle them… sadly, all the pretty stripes went away…
It is a shame that the stripes disappear, I find they stay best when roasting.
those beets are very beautiful! i keep trying to like their flavor, but i’m not there yet… 🙂
Yum! Such healthy sandwich idea, Caroline! Excellent combination of ingredients which I can’t wait to mix. 😉
Those beetroots are GORGEOUS! I think it’s so crazy and amazing how things grow like that. It’s like art! This sounds so yummy!
Susie
Such an interesting association of flavours! I like this variety of beetroots, they are so colorful! 🙂
My dad has this kind of beetroot in his field, I think during summer time. They are so good and I prefer them to the classic red ones. Your sandwich is yummy!
I had no idea these beetroots were called candy beetroot but it makes so much delicious sense. This sounds like an excellent sandwich!
Those beets look gorgeous! And this dish looks wonderful — really creative. Thanks!